FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ghostlands by Andrew Fox Wins Inaugural $10,000 Ark Prize for 2026

Centennial by Robert E. Hampson, Independence ’76 by Matt Harlow, and Shrine by Graham Bradley Get Honorable Mentions

LOS ANGELES—Jan. 12, 2026. Ark Press is pleased to announce that Andrew Fox is the winner of the inaugural Ark Prize for his novel Ghostlands. As the winner of the Ark Prize, Fox receives a publishing contract with Ark Press and a $10,000 advance. Ghostlands was chosen from more than one hundred submissions. 

Ark Press also selected three novels for Ark Prize 2026 Honorable Mentions: Centennial by Robert E. Hampson, Independence ’76 by Matt Harlow, and Shrine by Graham Bradley.

The theme of the contest—America 2076—challenged authors to complete a novel-length manuscript. “We received a wide range of outstanding entries, from urban fantasy to time-travel science fiction,” said Ark Press editor in chief Tony Daniel. “In the end, Ghostlands blew us away." 

Ghostlands blends surreal science fiction and dark adventure, following a groundskeeper in a time-haunted future who learns he may be the key to stopping humanity’s war on its own past.

"I wrote Ghostlands as a graphic depiction of the persistence and tenacity of the past," said author Andrew Fox. "Fatherhood has been the toughest—but also by far most rewarding—job I ever signed up for. For many men, becoming a father is the most meaningful experience of their lives. It can also be the most painful, but that doesn't distract from its meaningfulness."

The novel has already drawn high praise from Gordon Van Gelder, award-winning editor-at-large of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. “Ghostlands has the same sort of wild, anything-goes imaginative freedom that first drew me to science fiction through the works of R. A. Lafferty, Philip K. Dick, and Neal Barrett, Jr.,” said Van Gelder. “It has been years since I’ve encountered anything remotely like Andrew Fox’s novel.”

Ghostlands is scheduled for publication by Ark Press in September 2026.

For more information contact:
pubs@ark.press, (707) 500-0275

Andrew Fox Bio:
Andrew Fox was raised in North Miami Beach, Florida, and lived for twenty-two years in New Orleans, where many of his books are set. His first novel, Fat White Vampire Blues, was selected for the Lord Ruthven Award for Best Vampire Novel and is in development as a minor motion picture. His third novel, The Good Humor Man, or, Calorie 3501, was selected by Booklist magazine as one of the Ten Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels of the Year. He has taught children's theater, managed a statewide food assistance program, run a campaign against celebratory gunfire, and briefly sold Saturn cars. He currently lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three sons while working for a federal law enforcement agency.